With this edition of this highly regarded encyclopedic text, editorial leadership has passed from the book's founder, Max Samter, to four editors eminently qualified to continue this pioneering text as it continues to present comprehensively the complex and clinically important field of human immunologic diseases and disorders. Clinicians must be aware that the chapters dealing with clinical entities (such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis, and lupus erythematosus), although they describe clinical features and general therapeutic considerations, focus mainly on genetic, pathogenetic, and other biologic mechanisms. Thus, most clinicians should consider Immunologic Diseases to be a companion to clinically oriented texts in related clinical fields. A major resource for any library serving clinicians interested in the mechanisms of disease.